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Isobel Stevens had stage four metastatic melanoma, and the cancer had spread to her liver, skin, and brain. She was told she had a five percent chance of survival. It was a miracle she had fought for this long.
George O'Malley was a young healthy man, he was supposed to be leaving for his new job as a trauma surgeon in the army in a few days. He was meant to live for many years to come.
Izzie and George died on the same day, at the same time, in the same hospital. The only difference was the circumstances of their deaths. Izzie succumbed to her illness and died in her newlywed husband's arms. George died during surgery after getting hit by a bus while trying to save a stranger's life. The two were best friends and they died without knowing whether or not the other would be okay. They both worked in the hospital they died in, and they were both mourned equally by the same group of friends they had shared. Their funerals were during the same week, and once again the same people appeared to mourn. They loved each other endlessly even if their relationship didn't seem to work.
Since they were constantly together while alive, it was only fitting that they would be together in death. When Izzie arrived on the floor of the hospital she always traveled to in her recurring dreams, the doors opened and she saw George. She smiled and walked to meet him, wearing the flowing pink dress she always had in her dream. Normally Denny Duquette would be standing in the place where George currently was, but Izzie liked the change. She thought George looked handsome in the new army uniform he was wearing. She grabbed his outstretched hand, locking them together, and the pair walked down the hall into the light at the end. It was almost exactly like Izzie's dreams, except this time it didn't end.
—
"Izzie you need to relax, just calm down. It's going to be fine." Denny repeated for the hundredth time.
"I can't just calm down! You're saying I- You're telling me that I'm dead, and you think I need to calm down?"
"I know it's confusing and probably scary, but it's going to be okay. Death isn't that bad once you get used to the smell." He paused for a moment. "Well you're a doctor Iz, you're probably used to it already."
Suddenly Izzie felt a hand on her shoulder, and heard George's voice behind her. "So you're saying that we're actually dead? Is this supposed to be some weird kind of heaven?"
"Not heaven or hell, a sort of in-between. You think heaven would be a hospital? That seems cruel." Denny replied.
"I- We're dead? That's…" George paused. "I had plans. I was supposed to go to the army tomorrow. I was going to save lives."
"You did. You saved lives everyday. Your own was just cut short."
—
After a few days (or had it been a week? a month? She didn't know.) of being stuck in this ghostly empty version of Seattle Grace, Izzie felt even worse than she first had. The constant reminder of being dead, and the fact that she couldn't take off the dress, was more than enough for her to handle. Having to see her ex-fiancé every single day, who she felt responsible for killing, was too much. Being around her past patients, Meredith's mother, and George, all of whom were also dead, was too much for her. Everything she was going through was way too much. Izzie was dead and she was still dealing with immense amounts of stress and anxiety. She hated it.
Death was cold. Izzie was constantly shivering, having to cuddle up to George for warmth while they slept. (Izzie had been surprised, but glad, when she realized that ghosts also needed to sleep. She was the most well-rested she had been in years.) He gladly allowed this, partly because the two were best friends and partly because he had no other women to worry about. Izzie noticed that he seemed lighter after death, which she couldn't understand. She knew that she was dying and it didn't make the experience any better, even though she had been fully prepared. She wanted to get back to her life, back to when she didn't have a cancer diagnosis looming over her like a storm. She felt useless now that she wasn't constantly working, the work had become comfortable and without it she felt like she had no purpose. George was the opposite.
He was happy. Happier than he had been in the months leading up to his death, back when he was a living, breathing soul. Izzie couldn't understand how that was possible when she felt as though she was being crushed.